I’m here to persuade you that environmental sustainability is of grave importance and requires concerted effort in education, business, and government programming. In particular, the fuel versus fuel debate as a consequence of dwindling fossil fuel supplies will inevitably become a significant threat to the world’s food supply and must be addressed. To illustrate the problem at hand, I direct your attention to the article, “Food Versus Biofuels: Environmental and Economic Costs.” The most pressing problem is that the world’s population is increasing at a greater rate than the world’s food supply. This has caused malnutrition to be the leading cause of death in the world. If a large portion of the world’s fertile cropland were to be repurposed for the production of biofuels such as ethanol from corn, the world’s food supply would only be stretched further and result in more deaths from starvation of those who cannot afford to buy food. Further, biofuels are not a viable alternative because the energy used to produce them has always been more than they contain. The extra energy must be provided from alternative sources such as wind or solar, but most commonly, fossil fuels. Additionally, even if all of the world’s land was used to produce biofuel, it would not be enough to match the world’s demand for energy (Pimentel et al., 2009).
I’m here to persuade you that environmental sustainability is of grave importance and requires concerted effort in education, business, and government programming. In particular, while organic food appears to eliminate the dangers presented by the pesticides and fertilizers that are typically used in farming, there remain many problems that must be solved before organic food can be considered the solution. To illustrate the problem at hand, I direct your attention to the article, “Comparing the Yields of Organic and Conventional Agriculture.” The two most pressing problems of organic food are its lower yield and its increased cost. Because the yield of organic farming is approximately 34% less than that of conventional farming assuming that the same effort is put into obtaining that highest yield, it would be nearly impossible to grow enough organic food to keep up with population growth. Already, hunger is the leading cause of death worldwide. Further, the increased cost of organic farming would increase the price of food, bringing it out of reach for an even greater number of people (Seufert, Ramankutty, & Foley, 2012).
Pimentel, D., Marklein, A., Toth, M. A., Karpoff, M. N., Paul, G. S., McCormack, R., … Krueger, T. (2009). Food Versus Biofuels: Environmental and Economic Costs. Human Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 37(1), 1–12. doi:10.1007/s10745-009-9215-8
Seufert, V., Ramankutty, N., & Foley, J. A. (2012). Comparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture. Nature, 485(7397), 229–232. doi:10.1038/nature11069
I’m here to persuade you that environmental sustainability is of grave importance and requires concerted effort in education, business, and government programming. In particular, the fuel versus fuel debate as a consequence of dwindling fossil fuel supplies will inevitably become a significant threat to the world’s food supply and must be addressed. To illustrate the problem at hand, I direct your attention to the article, “Food Versus Biofuels: Environmental and Economic Costs.” The most pressing problem is that the world’s population is increasing at a greater rate than the world’s food supply. This has caused malnutrition to be the leading cause of death in the world. If a large portion of the world’s fertile cropland were to be repurposed for the production of biofuels such as ethanol from corn, the world’s food supply would only be stretched further and result in more deaths from starvation of those who cannot afford to buy food. Further, biofuels are not a viable alternative because the energy used to produce them has always been more than they contain. The extra energy must be provided from alternative sources such as wind or solar, but most commonly, fossil fuels. Additionally, even if all of the world’s land was used to produce biofuel, it would not be enough to match the world’s demand for energy (Pimentel et al., 2009).
I’m here to persuade you that environmental sustainability is of grave importance and requires concerted effort in education, business, and government programming. In particular, while organic food appears to eliminate the dangers presented by the pesticides and fertilizers that are typically used in farming, there remain many problems that must be solved before organic food can be considered the solution. To illustrate the problem at hand, I direct your attention to the article, “Comparing the Yields of Organic and Conventional Agriculture.” The two most pressing problems of organic food are its lower yield and its increased cost. Because the yield of organic farming is approximately 34% less than that of conventional farming assuming that the same effort is put into obtaining that highest yield, it would be nearly impossible to grow enough organic food to keep up with population growth. Already, hunger is the leading cause of death worldwide. Further, the increased cost of organic farming would increase the price of food, bringing it out of reach for an even greater number of people (Seufert, Ramankutty, & Foley, 2012).
Pimentel, D., Marklein, A., Toth, M. A., Karpoff, M. N., Paul, G. S., McCormack, R., … Krueger, T. (2009). Food Versus Biofuels: Environmental and Economic Costs. Human Ecology: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 37(1), 1–12. doi:10.1007/s10745-009-9215-8
Seufert, V., Ramankutty, N., & Foley, J. A. (2012). Comparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture. Nature, 485(7397), 229–232. doi:10.1038/nature11069